Doc...not sure about that one personally..are you giving up on Cakewalk finally?!! Enought struggling with their imperfections huh?! I dont notate so I couldnt truly help you on this one. I'm more of an audiophile than a Midi-it!! Maybe you should check out Cubase Score..that seems to be more your area than the regular Cubase..altho Cubase does have Score implimentation in it as well! Download the demo and checkit out..once you get yourself acclimated with Cubase you'd be amazed how easy it is compared to Cakewalk. Also try Emagic Logic Audio...I believe that has notation(but I'm not 100%) sure on that one.
Opus

No, not giving up on Cakewalk, although I'm letting Sonar ferment on my hard disk for a while until they get it usable. Pro Audio 9 works great for my usual stuff, but now and then I get involved with notation projects like doing arrangements for small ensembles with 5-10 instruments and 4 part vocals. Cake does things in a linear fashion, so if you took a 3 verse song with chorus and tag that, if notated normally would be 3 pages, ends up being 10 or so pages. So I need a notation program. There are plenty of them out there, but my "dream" specifications would make auditioning the score more realistic. I've seen a package that takes the midi velocity data and inserts dynamics into the score, but not the other way around. It'd be nice to be able to notate dynamics with an expression pedal, but what the heck. I may have to wait for the cerebral-midi interface so I can just plug a midi cable between my brain and PC and think what I want.

BTW, the correct term is "midiot" :D

Ahhh...Finale is one program you should look into then..there's one other which I forget..I think it's made by Coda..how appra pro huh?!! I use Midi-it beacuse that's a website all about Midi..I know it's Midiot..I like to be different!!
Opus

You should see what I do now, it's ugly! Using Cake, I make a score that is written in the "conventional" manner, and then have to go thru and write the repeat signs, coda markings, etc. in with a pencil or pen on top of the print. It sorta lacks in that "professional feel", if you know what I mean.

Saw an ad recently for some new software called Sibelius. It claims to do all that and a bag of chips. Maybe worth checking out.

Originally posted by Ang1970:
Saw an ad recently for some new software called Sibelius. It claims to do all that and a bag of chips. Maybe worth checking out.

Ang 1970 is quite right, Sibelius is the dogs doodah when it comes to notation sequencing, but be prepared to take out a mortagage on the house to pay for it. I don't have it myself, but I have a very good friend who plays for a V famous orchestra and he swears by it.... Says I'm a peasant cos I don't use it....... Hmmmmnnn

Simon

Doc,
I've never used it, but Score sounds like what you're looking for. You can read some interviews with composers like Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Gladiator, and many other big movies) on how they use Cubase to score. It's at cubase.net (sorry, I don't know how to create links). I tried to see if there was an owner's manual online, but I'm not so adept at web searching.

How you use Cubase to score is up to you and may not be legal in all states.

You could alternatively invest the $ you would have budgeted on software to hire several page-turners/interns/groupies for your Cakewalk scores. You would stimulate the local economy and enrich many lives.

I bet Valky has some wisdom on this subject.

Sibelius...that was the program I was trying to remember!!! I would check that one out Doc..It is a full notation program indeed!!
Opus

Hi doc,

Simply the best notation software I've ever used is Sibelius (http://). If I remember correctly it can output to MIDI and files can be saved in MIDI format. It is mainly designed as a professional notation package and is used by many of the top classical composers. So all the notation features you mentioned you needed plus just about all the ones you didn't, are fully supported. Be aware though that the program is notation oriented with a bit of MIDI thrown in. So it's not by any means a top class sequencer.

If you need a lot of high spec MIDI sequencing that has also has decent notation (nowhere near as good as Sibelius' though) then Logic is the best I've seen.

Greg

Thanks, one and all! I've been looking at Sibelious, it looks impressive, for sure. The Coda products (Finale and Allegro) say they play back the dynamics as notated, I didn't see where the Sibelious did that. At any rate, thanks for the input, guess it's time to let my PC spend a night or so downloading demos and then test driving them.